How securities are held for an institution in Uzbekistan: UZCSD, intermediaries, nominee and foreign nominee holders, settlement and reconciliation.
In short
Ownership of a UZSE-listed security is a record on a depo account, kept at the Central Securities Depository, an intermediary or a foreign nominee holder.
Intermediaries hold clients' securities in total at the depository and keep the per-client detail in their own books.
Only the depository registers securities, keeps holder registers, assigns ISINs and settles the securities leg of exchange trades.
Your right passes when the security is credited to your depo account, and the intermediary's statement is the legal proof.
Reconcile your own book, the depo statement and cash at every period end and after every corporate event.
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For a private investor, custody is a detail handled by the broker. For a fund, an insurer or a bank treasury, it is part of the control framework: who records the institution's securities, on whose instruction they move, how a trade settles and which statement proves ownership on a given date. This guide walks through the chain as the Law "On the securities market" sets it out today, with the questions an institution's operations and risk staff usually ask. The retail view of the same system, the depo account and member numbers, is covered in depo accounts and the Central Securities Depository.
Legal points come from the consolidated text of the law on lex.uz, read on 28 September 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
The links in the chain
Ownership of a UZSE-listed security is a record, not a certificate. Rights to it are kept on depo accounts, which the law allows in three places (article 36):
at the Central Securities Depository (UZCSD);
at an investment intermediary, the licensed firm that also acts as broker;
at a foreign nominee holder, an international central securities depository or settlement system, or a foreign central depository that settles trades from foreign exchanges.
The intermediary and the foreign nominee hold their clients' securities in aggregate on their own depo accounts at UZCSD, and keep the per-client detail in their own books. So a typical institutional position has two records: one line at the intermediary that names the institution, and one aggregate line at UZCSD that names the intermediary.
The law calls an intermediary or UZCSD doing this a nominee holder: a party that records and certifies rights to securities on the owner's instruction without being the owner (article 3). A foreign nominee holder is defined the same way for foreign systems. Article 36 took its current wording in the 2021 amendments (ZRU-726 of 29 October 2021).
One position, two records
At the investment intermediary
One line that names the institution
The per-client detail, kept in the intermediary's own books
Its depo account statement is the legal proof of ownership
At UZCSD
One aggregate line that names the intermediary
The intermediary acts as nominee holder, recording rights without being the owner
What UZCSD does, and only UZCSD
Article 39 lists the depository's exclusive functions. The ones that matter most to an institution:
registering securities and keeping the documents that confirm an issue;
keeping the registers of security holders;
keeping the depo accounts of investment intermediaries and foreign nominee holders;
settling the securities leg and the cash leg of trades made on organised markets, in the established way;
recording the rights of the state, and of persons the state authorises to manage its securities;
recording rights to securities issued and owned by investment funds, unless the law provides otherwise;
assigning international codes (ISINs) to securities issued by residents;
keeping the unified database of depositors and collecting data on movements across depo accounts.
These exclusive functions do not extend to international bonds.
Since 2024 UZCSD is a joint-stock company (article 38, as amended by ZRU-980 of 22 October 2024). Its tariffs are approved by its own governing body in agreement with the securities regulator. Since the 2025 amendments (ZRU-1057 of 17 April 2025), the regulator supervises its registration, recording, custody and securities settlement, and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan supervises the cash settlement of trades.
For funds, the fund law points the same way: securities issued and held by investment funds are recorded and kept at UZCSD (ZRU-392, article 15).
A trade on the exchange passes through three steps, each assigned by the law to a named party:
Clearing. The organiser of trading determines and offsets the parties' mutual obligations, and settlement in securities and money follows its clearing instruction (article 22).
Securities settlement. The securities leg of an organised-market trade is settled by UZCSD and/or the investment intermediary (article 33).
Cash settlement. The money leg is settled by the Central Bank, commercial banks and/or UZCSD (article 33).
The right to a book-entry security passes to the buyer when the credit entry is made on the buyer's depo account, and it is proved by a statement from that depo account (article 37). For an institution this is the moment that matters for its own books, not the trade time. The exchange's own session and settlement timetable is described in UZSE trading sessions and settlement.
From trade to ownership
1Step 1: Clearing.The organiser of trading determines and offsets the parties' obligations and issues the clearing instruction.
2Step 2: Securities settlement.UZCSD and/or the investment intermediary settle the securities leg.
3Step 3: Cash settlement.The Central Bank, commercial banks and/or UZCSD settle the money leg.
4Step 4: Credit entry.The right passes to the buyer when the credit entry is made on its depo account, proved by a statement from that account.
What the intermediary owes you
When an investment intermediary performs depository operations, article 27 sets its duties. Among them, it must:
keep a record of the quantity and nominal value of each depositor's securities;
record encumbrances, such as pledges, and their release;
carry out operations on a depo account only on the written instruction of the depositor or its authorised person, except where the law provides otherwise;
confirm the depositor's ownership with a statement from the depo account;
keep information on holdings and movements confidential, except where the law requires disclosure;
provide UZCSD with the owner data needed to build the register of security holders;
provide for compensation of losses it causes, by contributing to the guarantee fund and by liability insurance.
The guarantee fund sits with the organiser of trading and is built from a withheld part of each intermediary's commission, to compensate investors for losses caused by an intermediary (article 23). The money in it belongs to the intermediaries, is accounted for separately for each and may not be used for other purposes. How an intermediary must account for and safeguard clients' cash is set by the regulator, not by the law itself.
Registers and record dates
UZCSD keeps the registers of security holders. To build one, it asks nominee holders for the owners behind their aggregate positions (articles 27 and 39). This is how an issuer learns who may vote or receive a dividend on a given date, and why an institution's position must be correctly attributed at its intermediary before the register date. When the register is built from an incorrect client record, the dividend or vote goes the same way. Corporate events that change holdings, such as splits and new issues, are covered in corporate actions: splits, consolidations and new issues.
What an institution reconciles
The chain gives an institution three views of the same position:
its own book, from trade confirmations and its accounting;
the intermediary's depo account statement, which is the legal proof of ownership;
cash, from the bank or the intermediary, for the money legs, dividends and coupons.
A sound routine compares all three at every period end and after every corporate event. Typical causes of a difference are timing (a trade executed but not yet credited), corporate actions booked on different dates, or fees deducted at source. Each break should be recorded with its cause and resolution, because an auditor and a board will ask for that trail.
Where Finmind fits
Finmind is not a custodian or a depository and holds no securities or money. It reads market data and, for individuals who connect one, a brokerage account at a fondbozori.uz member. What an organisation's Finmind account includes, and the platform's stated limits, are set out on the /institutions page.
Frequently asked questions
The institution itself. The intermediary or UZCSD acts as a nominee holder that records and certifies the rights without being the owner. Ownership of a book-entry security is proved by a statement from the institution's depo account.
The law allows it. Since the 2021 amendments, depo accounts may be opened at a foreign nominee holder, defined as an international central securities depository or settlement system, or a foreign central depository settling trades from foreign exchanges. The foreign nominee holds its clients' positions in aggregate at UZCSD.
When the credit entry is made on the buyer's depo account, under article 37 of the law. Clearing is done by the organiser of trading, the securities leg is settled by UZCSD and/or the intermediary, and the cash leg by the Central Bank, commercial banks and/or UZCSD.
Not any more. Article 38, as amended in October 2024, says the Central Securities Depository is created as a joint-stock company that funds itself from its service income. Its tariffs are approved by its own governing body in agreement with the securities regulator.
This article is for education only and is not investment advice. Investing in securities involves risk, including the loss of money you invest.
Key terms in this post
Depository
The organisation that records who owns which securities. In Uzbekistan it is the Central Securities Depository.
Face value
The amount the issuer repays when a bond ends, and the amount its coupons are calculated on.
Issuer
The company or government that issued a share or a bond and has obligations to its holders.
Coupon
The interest a bond pays its holder, usually a fixed percentage of its face value, paid on set dates.
